The invention relates to a merchandising rack for bottles, particularly for Ref-PET-type bottles, which are provided with a substantially level collar in the neck area, the merchandising rack comprising elongated members made of material which is substantially round in cross-section, the members being attached to a supporting structure so that they are substantially perpendicular to the plane forming the supporting structure and arranged in pairs at a distance from each other which substantially corresponds to the thickness of a bottle neck so that when the bottle neck is fitted between the members, the bottle hangs from its collar on said members.
Merchandising racks described above are nowadays well known in the field of retail trade. Shelf-type solutions have been conventionally used as merchandising racks, in other words the bottles on sale have been placed on the shelf in an upright position. In this case the bottles stand on their bottoms on the shelf surface. This solution was very practical in connection with glass bottles which were used earlier, since glass bottles are very stable in the upright position, and thus they do not fall easily.
As Ref-PET-type bottles have become more common, problems have arisen particularly in the case of conventional shelf-type merchandising racks. The problems involve stability of the bottles. For technical reasons related to durability Ref-PET-type returnable bottles have to be provided with a certain shape. The bottom of these bottles, i.e. the surface that rests on the shelf surface, has a small diameter compared to the width and height of the bottle. The bottle shape results from the properties of the plastic material used in production, in other words, the bottle has to be provided with a certain shape if it is to satisfy certain durability requirements, for example. In practice, the above-mentioned problems mean that even a light push easily upsets the bottles, which may cause a lot of damage. The problem is emphasized particularly in merchandising racks from which customers, e.g. children, take bottles often in a hurry and carelessly. It may happen that the whole rack filled with bottles falls down. This results in an unpleasant situation for the customer, and at least in disorder and causes more work for the personnel. In the worst case some of the bottles are damaged so badly that they have to be withdrawn from sale. A further disadvantage related to the shelf-type solutions is the fact that the bottles placed at the rear edge of the shelf are not easily at hand, especially if the shelf is wide. In this case it may be necessary to move bottles near to the front edge of the shelf from time to time. This increases the work load of the shop personnel.
To eliminate the above-mentioned problems merchandising racks have been developed particularly for Ref-PET-type bottles. Such racks utilize the level collar in the neck area of the bottle so that bottles hang from their collars on the elongated members. An example of such a merchandising rack is the solution described in Finnish Utility Model No. 2388.
The solution described in Finnish Utility Model No. 2388 has been very practical when used with the Ref-PET-type bottles which were produced earlier and had a relatively large collar. Recently manufacturers have, however, introduced bottles with a substantially smaller collar, and consequently, it has been noted that the earlier merchandising racks designed for the bottle type in question are not as practical as they could be. It has been noted, for example, that in prior art merchandising racks bottles tilt easily because the small collar is not sufficiently supported by the elongated members which are substantially round in cross-section. The fact that the bottles are inadequately supported may even lead to a situation in which the bottles slip out of the rack and fall onto the floor.
The object of the invention is to provide a merchandising rack in which the drawbacks of the prior art solutions are eliminated. This is achieved with the merchandising rack of the invention which is characterized in that the elongated members made of material which is substantially round in cross-section are provided with sharp-edged parts which are parallel to the members and are arranged to form the surfaces that support the bottles.
A major advantage of the invention is that the problems that have come up in connection with bottles with a small collar can be eliminated in a very economical manner. A further advantage is that the invention does not in any way hinder the use of bottles provided with a larger collar, i.e. bottles provided with a large collar can be placed in the merchandising rack of the invention without difficulty. One advantage of the invention is its simplicity, and thus it is economical to introduce the invention. Production of the merchandising racks of the invention can be automated very economically, which also reduces the costs considerably.